Fast forward learning with TimeLapse on Windows 8

Charlotte Coade from Simon De Senlis Primary school, Northampton, is the third Microsoft Innovative Expert Educator (MIEE) this week to share her teaching and learning story with us on the schools blog. Charlotte works very closely with the Digital Leaders Team at her school and together they have recently set up a blog to explore Apps in education. Take a look at their first discovery, TimeLapse:

TimeLapse for Windows 8 is a fantastic resource to capture those extraordinary moments that you would otherwise miss! It allows the opportunity to monitor events by capturing images over time and link them together to create a high definition clip.

Now this has me thinking…how could I use TimeLapse to its full potential within the classroom and allow children to access material that they couldn’t without technology. As a Year 6 teacher, I am always looking at ways to link learning together and make it meaningful for the children. One of the Science topics that we study is ‘Interdependence and Adaptation’ – a topic that can be very limited in its delivery. Yes we can show pictures of plants and leaves to the children and get them to read about the changes in plants from a text book, but is this really engaging for the children? And how much do they benefit from it? It’s important to remember that the whole point of technology is to enhance learning – not just replace something for the sake of it.

However this topic is one example where TimeLapse fits in quite nicely. It allows children to make observations of plant growth and compare the changes over time. As a result they are able to evaluate the process once observing the footage.

What happens to the leaves and petals once the sun comes out? What changes happen over time? What are the changes to a plant if it is not given enough water and nutrients? All these are questions that can be answered using this app. Or why not take it back to basics and use time-lapse photography to document the stages of plant life. Plant a seed in a glass vase and take regular pictures for the length of its gestation to a mature plant. Another experiment that could benefit from TimeLapse is to test how different solutions used to water plants affect growth. The results can be measured and recorded by students while also being captured on time-lapse video.

And why stop there! The topic also requires children to look at habitats of the local area and compare it to other locations. Who actually knows what goes on in the school grounds at night? What wildlife is around in the local area and what habits do they have? The time lapse will capture every moment and movement and allow the children a real insight into animals and their behaviours. Who knows, they may spot a fox who could become a local celebrity!

Charlotte Coade (@coade_976)

Look out for more blog posts from Charlotte and the Digital Leaders Team!

You can find out more about the range of programmes Microsoft Education offers teachers by joining www.pil-network.com for free!